Glossary of Terms
- ABSCESS
- A circumscribed collection of pus.
- ACOUSTIC NEURINOMAS
- Benign tumor of the hearing nerve (eighth nerve).
- ACROMEGALY
- Disorder marked by progressive enlargement of the head, face, hands, feet, and thorax, due to the excessive secretion of growth hormone.
- ADENOMA
- A benign growth formed of glandular tissue.
- AGNOSIA
- Absence of the ability to recognize the form and nature of persons and things.
- AGRAPHIA
- Loss of the power of writing due either to muscular incoordination or to an inability to phrase thought.
- AMAUROSIS
- Loss of vision without discoverable lesion in the eye structures or optic nerve. Amaurosis fugax - temporary blindness occurring in short periods.
- AMENORRHEA
- Absence of the menses due to causes other than pregnancy or advancing age.
- AMNESIA
- Loss of memory caused by brain damage or by severe emotional trauma.
- ANALGESIA
- Loss of sensibility to pain, loss of response to a painful stimulus.
- ANAPLASIA
- In the case of a body cell, a reversion to a more primitive condition. A term used to denote the alteration in cell character which constitutes malignancy.
- ANASTOMOSIS
- A communication, direct or indirect: A joining together. In the nervous system a jointing of nerves or blood vessels.
- ANENCEPHALY
- Absence of the greater part of the brain, often with skull deformity.
- ANESTHESIA
- Loss of sensation of a body part; or of the body when induced by the administration of a drug.
- ANESTHESIOLOGIST
- Physician who administers pain-killing medications during surgery.
- ANEURYSM
- Dilation of an artery, formed by a circumscribed enlargement of its wall. Saccular (berry) aneurysm - sac-like bulging on one side of an artery usually arising at an arterial branching.
- ANGIOGRAM
- A study which shows the blood vessels leading to and in the brain by injecting a dye or contrast substance through a catheter placed in the artery in the leg.
- ANGIOGRAPHY
- Radiography of blood vessels using the injection of material opaque to x-rays to give better definition to the vessels.
- ANOREXIA
- Loss of appetite; a condition marked by loss of appetite leading to weight loss.
- ANOSMIC
- Without the sense of smell.
- ANOXIA
- Total lack of oxygen supply.
- ANTI-COAGULANT
- A medication that prevents coagulation of the blood.
- ANTIDIURETIC
- An agent which reduces the output of urine. Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) is formed in the hypothalamus and stored in the posterior pituitary gland. Its secretion reduces urine output.
- APHASIA
- Difficulty with, or loss of use of, language in any of several ways including reading, writing or speaking. Failure of understanding of the written, printed or spoken word not related to intelligence but to specific lesions in the brain.
- APNEA
- Cessation of respiration; inability to get one's breath.
- APOPLEXY
- A sudden event. Often used as equivalent to stroke.
- ARACHNOID
- Middle layer of membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.
- ARACHNOIDITIS
- Inflammation of the arachnoid membrane, most commonly seen within the spinal cord around the spinal cord and cauda equina.
- AREA
- (Cortical) - A part of the brain having a special function as in
Motor a. - The cortical portion of the brain controlling movement.
Sensory a. - The cortical portion, controlling sensation. - ARTERIOGRAPHY
- See angiography.
- ARTERIOSCLEROSIS
- Thickening and calcification of the arterial wall with loss of elasticity and contractility.
- ARTERIOVENOUS
- Relating to both arteries and veins.
- ARTERIOVENOUS MALFORMATION
- Collection of blood vessels with one or several abnormal communications between arteries and veins which may cause hemorrhage or seizures.
- ASTROCYTE
- Cell which supports the nerve cells (neurons) of the brain and spinal cord.
- ASTROCYTOMA
- Tumor within the substance of the brain or spinal cord made up of astrocytes - often classified from Grade I (slow-growing) to Grade III (rapid-growing).
- ATAXIA
- A loss of muscular coordination, abnormal clumsiness.
- ATHETOSIS
- A condition in which there is a succession of slow, writhing, involuntary movements of the fingers and hands, and sometimes of the toes and feet.
- ATROPHY
- A wasting of the tissues of a body part.
- AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
- Involuntary nervous system, also termed the vegetative nervous system. A system of nerve cells whose activities are beyond voluntary control.
- AVASCULAR
- Non-vascular, not provided with blood vessels.
- AXON
- The part of a nerve cell that usually sends signals to other nerves or structures.
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